Somewhere inside Yankee Stadium sits Yankees Managing General Partner Hal Steinbrenner in one of the suites overlooking the playing field. While he watches, his team continues to put forth a disappointing on-field product often to a chorus of boos from fans. Despite heading into the season filled with optimism, his team has been a nightmare to watch this season. As the ultimate owner of the team, Hal is responsible for this mess. It’s time for him to wake up and do what his father would have done and make big changes.

The Analytics Experiment Is A Failure

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After the 2017 season, Steinbrenner has been allowing long-time General Manager Brian Cashman to run the baseball operation primarily based on analytics. Cashman was also allowed to move on from longtime manager Joe Girardi despite coming within a game of the World Series. This move has ultimately been a failure as the Yankees haven’t won the World Series, been knocked out of the ALCS twice by the hated Astros, and it has led to high-profile misses on players like Joey Gallo, Frankie Montas, Sonny Gray, and Josh Donaldson. It has essentially culminated in the Yankees bottoming out this season.

This past week, Hal Steinbrenner already announced that Brian Cashman’s job was safe. However, he hinted that Aaron Boone could be let go if the Yankees don’t make the postseason. Given the number of injuries, distractions, and underperformance, postseason baseball probably won’t be seen in the Bronx this October. Boone isn’t the issue here, it’s the Yankees failed experiment with analytics.

Now You Know Why Yankee Fans Were Upset In June

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Back in June, Hal questioned why Yankee fans were already upset and it wasn’t even the all-star break yet at the time. On his team, Steinbrenner has both Gerrit Cole and Aaron Judge in their primes. The fans don’t want for them to join Don Mattingly and Dave Winfield as great Yankees to never win a ring. As the roster currently sits, the team that Cashman has assembled isn’t going to get them a ticker tape parade. This is why Yankee fans are upset in June. Hal should remember that his old man would fire people at any given month if the Yankees were losing.

Talk The Talk Now Walk The Walk

Last season, Hal Steinbrenner was booed to no mercy by the fans on two different occasions. I would expect the same thing to happen again if Hal was seen on the field again. I believe Hal Steinbrenner owes it to the fan base to make the necessary changes. He supposedly understands what Yankee fans expect. This was the same owner who infamously said during Carlos Rodon’s introductory press conference that the Yankees “weren’t done.” However, no other moves were made. This is another reason why Hal needs to really take more control of the organization.

Time For Him To Ask What His Father Would’ve Done

The analytics experiment has become a disaster for this franchise. However, if Steinbrenner is content with keeping Brian Cashman as the general manager, then he should order him to end this analytics nonsense. It’s time for him to channel his “inner George” and make the big changes. After all, his father would’ve done it by now. Yankee fans expect championships and Hal hasn’t produced one since his father’s last full year on earth.

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Eric Katz

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